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Subtend
//sʌbˈtɛnd// verb
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To use an angle to delimit (mark off, enclose) part of a straight or curved line, for example an arc or the opposite side of a triangle. transitive
"A 43° angle subtends an arc of about 0.75 meters on a circle with a radius of 1 meter."
- 2 be opposite to; of angles and sides, in geometry wordnet
- 3 To extend or stretch opposite something; to be part of a straight or curved line that is opposite to and delimits an angle. also, transitive
"A hypotenuse subtends the right angle of a right triangle."
- 4 To form the central angle of a circle underneath an arc. transitive
"The points A and B on the circumference form the arc AB, which subtends the central angle θ."
- 5 To stand beneath or close to, as a bract at the base of a flower. transitive
Etymology
From Latin subtendere, from sub (“under”) + tendere (“to stretch, extend”), itself a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ὑποτείνω (hupoteínō, “to subtend”), from which hypotenuse also derives. See tend.
See also for "subtend"
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